Pre 6 April 2016 Pensioners
If you reached your State Pension age prior to 6 April 2016 and you were in receipt of your State Pension, you will continue to receive this in line with the old rules. You will continue to get both your basic State Pension and any additional State Pension (this could be State Graduated Pension, SERPS or State 2nd Pension) which you are entitled to.
The full old basic State Pension is currently £169.50 a week.
Post 6 April 2016 Pensioners
For any man born on or after 6 April 1951 and any woman born on or after 6 April 1953 your pension will be calculated in accordance with the new rules.
The full level of the new State Pension will be £221.20 per week - however, not everyone will automatically qualify for this amount.
The amount you receive will be based on your National Insurance record.
The new State Pension is based on how many “qualifying years” you have on your National Insurance record and whether you have previously been “contracted–out” of the additional State Pension at any time prior to 6 April 2016.
If you do not have the maximum amount of Qualifying Years and you were contracted out of the additional State Pension prior to 6 April 2016 (or both), your “starting amount” will be less than the full new State Pension.
From April 2016 government looks at how many existing Qualifying Years you have and if you have a contracting out record, which will determine your “starting amount”.
If your starting amount is less than the new full State Pension of £221.20 per week (2023/24), each qualifying year you add to your National Insurance record, after April 2016, will start to build up an additional amount up until you reach the full level of the new State Pension or when you reach your State Pension age - whichever happens first.
If your starting amount is more than the full State Pension you will receive this higher amount when you reach State Pension age. This will occur if you have built up a certain amount previously in the additional State Pension.
For more information visit: www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/what-youll-get